Elton John played the last of 330 shows on the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour last Saturday night (July 8) in Stockholm. In doing so, he further extended his record for the highest grossing tour of all time, closing out at $939.1 million.
John secured the record earlier this year, bypassing Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour and U2’s U2 360 Tour. With one last leg of almost 50 arena shows in Europe, he’s now $150 million ahead of those two tours, with almost another $150 million separating them from the rest of the all-time leaderboard.
That sounds like a secure lead for Sir Elton, but even his old competitors can’t be counted out. Sheeran is on the road again with The Mathematics Tour. It launched last year and continues throughout the summer in stadiums.
In fact, there are a number of artists eyeing John’s record. The inner circle of stadium acts is constantly expanding as more contemporary artists seek to maximize their touring business. Tours are seemingly getting longer, with Sheeran himself releasing another new album mid-tour. In addition, ticket prices, particularly in arenas and stadiums in North America, are surging thanks to platinum and dynamic ticketing, plus primary market re-sale.
All of that is combining to create an era in the concert business that allows for eye-popping Boxscore reports across genres and generations. John proved patience is key, touring arenas and stadiums for almost five years (including during the COVID-19 blackout) to reach $900m-plus heights. On that note, we look to the second half of 2023, and further into 2024, and 2025 as we speculate on future contenders for the crown.
Scroll through some of the most likely challengers to see how the all-time Boxscore top 10 could shift in the months and years to come.
